The Dam of Grande Dixence is the tallest gravity dam in the world and is part of the Cleuson-Dixence Complex. The structure was started in 1950, was finished in 1964, measures 285m height, 700m long, generating about 2’000 GWh and is located in the Val d’Herens in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It provides electricity to around 400’000 households in Switzerland! This is a spectacular dam, with a long and large artifical lake (Lac des Dix) on which you can have a fantastic walk, looking at the Alpine mountain chain and the beautiful glaciers all around. You can visit the dam, which is a very interesting experience! Typical Swiss perfect architecture! The place is also famous to observe and make very nice photos of wild Chamois and Stoats, and I’ve been luck enough to get the 2 of them together in one shot!

The Vendanges (Grape Harvest) are a unique moment of the Lavaux in Switzerland

The grape harvest in Lavaux happens every year around end of September and October in Switzerland, and it’s a beautiful and unique busy moment of the year for the Lavaux region. All the winemaker of Lavaux are busy more or less at the same moment, and it creates very intense senes in the vineyard, with hundreds of people harvesting the grapes. The grapes will be used to make white wine, which is quite famous actually in the region. It’s also a very festive moment, when lot of traditional celebrations are held in this region. But the most magic moment is probably the beautiful intense view on the lake, with dramatic perspective on the vineyard, the Leman Lake (Lac Léman, also called Geneva Lake), the Alps mountains chain in the background, and for sure on the front the grapes! We’ve been lucky enough to be invited by closest friends to help them harvesting this year on a weekend, and it was lot of fun and nice unforgettable moments! We started around 7am, which explains the very warm and nice light that the sunrise gave us, which was probably one of the few days where the Lavaux is so crystal clear! We had a long but enjoyable day, with lot of fun and nice talks in the middle of the vineyard! Enjoy the view!

Emosson Dam and Lake in Switzerland (Barrage et Lac, Suisse Valais)

The Emosson dam and lake was the perfect place in the Valaisalpine mountains in Switzerland to make a day hike session with our good friend coming to visit us! It’s next to Martigny, in the col de la Forclaz region, on the road to Chamonix (France). We had a marvellous day that we will remember for long, as the weather was nice, the place was simply splendid and very nice and adequate for making lot of nice landscape photos. So beautiful that she painted live some of the most beautiful locations during the walk! The dam is actually quite impressive, and the lake behind is very quiet with a specific blue turquoise color tone. The mountain around are slpendid and you have a view on the Mont-Blanc chain. We had a walk to reach the second dam of Emosson (old lake) which is under repair at the moment, so the road was closed and we had to hike, in total 12km. Splendid view on the full domain of Emosson, which produces electricity for the CFF/SBB (Swiss Railway company) and also for France. We reached it by using the funicular of Emosson, which you take at village of Chatelard: this is the steepest 2-cabin funicular in the world with 87% slope gradient. This is so impressive and a must do if you pass by Emosson region (we did the way back by legs and it was very beautiful path)! The dam is at 1’930m altitude, and in early September it starts to be a bit fresh, but full of blueberries all over the place, which for sure girls can’t resist!

Sunnegga Paradise, Zermatt Switzerland - access to the mountain lakes to see the Matterhorn reflecting on water

You can take the Sunnegga Paradise funicular that will bring you to a very nice location at 2’288m altitude in the Swiss Alps, a 3 minutes journey from Zermatt. This is the start to the telecabin to Blauherd (2’571m) on which you can start one of the most beautiful walk in the Alpes, getting to fantastic landscapes and impressive view on the Matterhorn reflecting on mountain lakes: Stellisee, Grindjisee, Mosjesee and Leisee. All those mountain lakes are simply beautiful and nice place to relax. This is probably also where you get the most splendid panoramic and famous view on the Matterhorn, the ones that you see on all Swiss landscape scenery post cards! A must do if you’re in Zermatt, and every season is different!

The Zermatt Gornergrat Train, Swiss rack railway

The Zermatt Gornergrat train (Gornergratbahn) is a very impressive rack railway that will take you up to 3’135m of altitude, with a splendid view on the Matterhorn. The place also host an infrared telescope, and gives you panoramic view on 20 Alpine summit over 4’000m! The train opened in 1898, and climbs 1’500m through Riffelalp and Riffelberg, and stops at 3’089m (terminus), then you need to climb by walk the last meters to get the splendid panoramic view on the Alpine mountain chain. This is amazing, especially with sunny weather!